“The greatest legacy of this anniversary is the fact that we have been able to bring more than a thousand artists to this community. Without Cal Poly Arts, this community would not have been able to experience any of this,” Lerian said.
This year’s lineup features 41 different artistic acts including theater, classical music and a variety of different dance companies. To Lerian and other officials, it seems that although the economy has brought people down, the arts will always be around to bring spirits back up.
“Ticket sales were definitely down last year, as it really is discretionary spending we’re dealing with,” Lerian said. “Especially with faculty and staff having to take furlough days … and tickets are something that people have an option to cut back on.”
With that in mind, ticket sales for this year have been lowered by six dollars and an extra 20 percent discount is offered to faculty and staff, the same discount that had been offered only to students. Student rushes, which give discounts to students who arrive immediately before the show, will be offered for select show
“We would really like to encourage more students to attend so we’ve started using social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get the word out,” Ron Regier, managing director of the Christopher Cohan Center, said. “We realize that ticket prices can be prohibitive so we’re really trying our best to lower the barriers to students.”
Regier has been involved with the program since 1987, first as the director of the Center for the Arts for eight years, and now as managing director. He said that the program has made significant improvements over the past two decades.
For graphic communications senior Evan Ruhwedel, a discounted student ticket price would be a deciding factor in choosing whether or not to see a show.
“Cheaper tickets are always going to help me decide, but it would also depend on if I recognized who was performing or not,” she said.
Although no particular theme went into planning events for the upcoming season, more attention has been paid to showcase popular culture and music than is normally the case, Lerian added.
Performance highlights for fall quarter include an exotic dance show by the Bellydance Superstars, country music legend Merle Haggard as well as a special acoustic Jethro Tull concert by member Ian Anderson.
One event, co-sponsored by Associated Students Inc., will feature Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monestary. They will be in residence at Cal Poly for four days in early November, during which they will be creating a mandala sand painting in the University Union lobby. Later in the week, they will perform traditional dances and chants at the Christopher Cohan Center. Another ASI sponsored event will feature two free comedy acts in Alex & Faye Spanos Theater on Sept. 19.
“In terms of where the program has come from and the season that’s coming up, it would be too hard to choose a few as my favorite. There are just too many good shows,” Regier said. “The number of events and overall quality has improved dramatically.”
For this 25th anniversary celebration, there is no one show that seems to stand out among the rest.
“Every show this year is a must see,” Lerian said.